This weekend i headed up to Gala Yuzawa, about 1.5hrs North West of Tokyo on the Shinkansen. I must say, it certainly is the easiest way to get to the snow and the same as last week, pretty cheap too. This weeks trip was an up and back affair for 8700 yen, which includes the day on the mountain.
Gala Yuzawa is in Niigata Prefecture, check it out on this Map Of Japan, and the station is only operational during ski season where the lifts operate directly from it’s own station, how easy is that?! The station is actually on a side track which diverges from the main Joetsu Shinkansen track just after Echigo Yuzawa Station, being only 3 minutes further on. The main Joetsu Shinkansen line runs between Tokyo and Niigata City on the Sea of Japan, Northwestern coast of Japan.
Although you can go to Gala Yuzawa as a destination, there is very little parking, as it is really regarded as a day trippers mountain. The number of people at Gala Yuzawa is limited to some extent by how many people the Shinkansen can carry there. Even so, it does get crowded, but not as much as you might expect.
The Joetsu Shinkansen, you can just tell it goes fast by the look of it.
It was another great day and we were treated with perfect conditions – being blue skies, great snow and 12 degrees C.
I’ve been meaning to change my header image for quite some time now and you’ll see i have with the panoramic i took from one of the higher points on the mountain.
Unfortunately, this weeks trip to visit all 29 stops on the Yamanote Line will be delayed until next week while i watch my AFL team, the Adelaide Crows, play at 1pm courtesy of the Australian Network on World On Demand.
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Nice pictures. I love reading your snowboarding posts as they kind of act like a guide to snowboarding in Nippon! Keep it up!
Nice Winter header!!
Just in time for Spring
Yeh, i did think that Chris, the plan will be to take another in the next few weeks and try to atleast keep in line with the season. No prizes for guessing the next one will probably be from a Hanami party.
Yeah,
I am linking to your site with an image of your old header.
I will keep it as a tribute to the past!!
The pre P.C. days
It will be back at some stage Chris, you can count on that!
Cool
I will carry the torch till then!!
Hi Neil!
Thanks for stopping by my blog….I am repaying you a visit and will add you to my blogroll….if you don’t mind. It’s always cool to meet “others” like me living here in Japan! The Joetsu shinkansen looks pretty rad…. a lot nicer than the Tokaido ones… it’s so warm down here in Shizuoka…it’s hard to think about snow right now!
No probs, thanks for that!
We’re slowly getting out of winter here, looking forward to more of that warm weather of yours heading North that’s for sure!
I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting! Look for some my links: